About MetaboHistory

Company history is more than just a nice picture on the wall

Metabo's history stretches over more than three quarters of a century. It is mainly the history of a search for the most robust products with the longest service life.

The "Sonnenbrauerei" in Nürtingen was the headoffice from Metabo until 1969

In 1924, at the eve of the economic depression of those times, Albrecht Schnizler, a baker's son, and his business partner Julius Closs co-founded Schnizler GmbH. They wanted to manufacture tools that would meet the higher demands of an increasingly engineered world better than most of the tools that existed at that time. Walter Rauch, a great salesman, entered the business in 1927. Today, the descendants of the three founders are still Metabo Group shareholders.

Metabo-Logo from 1929 - 1955

In 1929, the company was transformed into Metabowerke GmbH. The name of Metabo derives from the term used in Germany for hand drills back then: Metallbohrdreher (metal turning drills).

The new company's first product

In 1923, the hand drill No. 18 was the first product this new company sold. More than 50,000 of these very successful drills were sold.At this time, an increasing number of work pieces was made of metal. Because of this, more robust tools were required for working them. British industrial workers, who performed extensive steel works, placed particularly high demands on their tools.Because Metabo's machines were able to meet these high standards, their export volume (mainly to Great Britain) generated 80% of the company's total revenues before 1930.

Development

In 1945, a major fire destroyed close to 75% of the manufacturing facilities. Nevertheless, the company boomed. In the 1930's, Metabo already employed more than 150 people. By 1960, this number had grown to over 1,000.

In 2010, Metabo and its 24 foreign sales companies ensure the group's market presence in more than 120 countries. Metabo employs more than 2,000 people around the world, and has 2 manufacturing sites: Nürtingen and Shanghai (China).

Global Novelties (Selection)

2002 Metabo PowerGrip is the first tool in a new class of Metabo cordless drills.

2009 Metabo develops the PowerCutter – an all-round tool for the garden.

Relocation to the current buildings

In 1969, the new office building at the Steinachwiesen is ready for us to move in. This completes the relocation of the company to the current site, which was begun in 1953.

Metabo Group is formed

In 1999, Metabo Group acquired the Meppen company Elektra Beckum. The product ranges of these two brands complement each other perfectly.Most of Elektra Beckum's plants are in Germany.

At the Meppen site, more than 200 employees are manufacturing wood working machines, compressors, welding equipment and devices for garden and domestic use.

A new chapter in our company's history

In 2006, Elektra Beckum, already an important member of Metabo Group, was fully integrated into Metabo.

After this product portfolio expansion, Metabo is now able to offer one of the widest ranges of high-quality power tools, devices and machines

Metabo's Philosophy

The greatest factor for success since 1924:

In the early 20th century, there were no consistent quality standards for resources and bought-in parts. Because of this, Metabo found a special solution for the production of high-performance products: We decided to process our own resources and produce most formerly bought-in parts ourselves to ensure better quality standards. This led to tools with an extraordinarily long service time. We are still working according to this principle.